PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has forwarded a fresh list of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, coming days after he submitted an initial batch of three names.
The new list includes immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu; ex-Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode; ex-Enugu State governor, Mr Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; and former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Reno Omokri, according to Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
Femi Fani-Kayode
In two separate letters to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu requested the expeditious confirmation of 15 career ambassadors and 17 non-career ambassadors.
Mr Onanuga said four women were nominated as career ambassadors and six as non-career envoys.
Reno Omokri
Other non-career nominees include: Mr Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia); former First Lady of Ekiti State, Ms Angela Adebayo; former speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly, Mr Tasiu Musa Maigari; former Plateau Commissioner and ex-UBEC Deputy Executive Secretary, Mr Yakubu N. Gambo; ex-Plateau senator, Ms Nora Ladi Daduut; former Lagos Deputy Governor, Mr Femi Pedro; and Ms Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu (Anambra).
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Also on the list are former First Lady of Oyo State, Ms Fatima Florence Ajimobi; ex-Lagos Commissioner, Ms Lola Akande; former Adamawa senator, Ms Grace Bent; ex-Abia governor, Mr Okezie Ikpeazu; businessman and senator, Mr Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo); and former envoy to the Holy See, Mr Paul Oga Adikwu.
Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi
Career ambassadorial nominees include: Ms Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Mr Yakubu Nyaku Danladi (Taraba), Mr Miamuna Ibrahim Besto (Adamawa), Mr Musa Musa Abubakar (Kebbi), Ms Syndoph Paebi Endoni (Bayelsa), Mr Chima Geoffrey Lioma David (Ebonyi), and Ms Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun).
Others are Ms Abimbola Samuel Reuben (Ondo), Ms Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah (Edo), Mr Hamza Mohammed Salau (Niger), Ambassador Shehu Barde (Katsina), Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), Mr Muhammad Saidu Dahiru (Kaduna), Ambassador Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari (Kwara), and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun).
Okezie Ikpeazu
The nominees are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains strong strategic ties, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the UAE, Qatar, South Africa, and Kenya, as well as multilateral missions such as the UN, UNESCO, and the African Union. Their specific postings will be determined after Senate confirmation.
Last week, Tinubu submitted three earlier nominees — Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun) — who are being considered for postings to the UK, US, or France.
The president said more ambassadorial nominations would be announced soon.
How international pressure forced Tinubu’s hands
More than two years after President Bola Tinubu recalled all ambassadors in 2023, most of the country’s 109 diplomatic missions remain without substantive heads, prompting calls for swift and merit-based appointments, Economy Post gathered.
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Mr Tinubu did not appoint ambassadors owing to lack of funds resulting from the non-implementation of 2024 and 2025 budgets.
Embassies and high commissions have been run by Chargés d’Affaires and senior mission officers, who are seen as lacking the political weight needed to handle complex international affairs.
However, President Donald Trump piled pressure on President Tinubu early this month by accusing Nigeria of encouraging Christian genocide.
He took two decisive decisions against Nigerian government’s inability to contain it. He first redesignated Nigeria as a ‘country of particular concern’ and followed it up with a threat to cut off aid and invade the nation to “wipe out Islamic terrorists.” Two times, he classified Nigeria as a ‘disgraceful country’ and said the government wasn’t helping matters.
The development forced President Tinubu to hasten the appointment of ambassadors as their absence wasn’t helping his government’s image abroad.
“Donald Trump has forced President Tinubu to appoint ambassadors. We don’t have to wait for someone outside Nigeria to force us to what we must do,” said a politcal analyst, Mr Senastian Udughije.
“Also, I am not impressed with some of the people in that list. Some of them do not have jobs at the moment and may see this as a saving grace. You do not use critical offices like ambassadors to compensate individuals who have nothing to offer.”
